Senior Year
by Muldoon22
Summary: Steve talks to Natasha for the first time in their senior year and it makes him regret not getting to know her. He decides to fix that.
1. Chapter 1

"Sorry to hear about you and Peggy, Steve." Bruce said as the two walked down the hall to their lockers. It was the first week back from summer, and on the first day, Steve's long time girlfriend Peggy Carter broke up with him.

"Thanks, Bruce. It kind of came out of nowhere. I thought we were good, you know?"

They first met in grade 7. They were now in their senior year, marking the days until they left high school forever. They'd been talking about enfolding in the same college, but now it would be too awkward.

"Im just gonna focus on today. I'll see you at lunch."

Bruce nodded and left, leaving Steve to keep walking. As the halls got more and more crowded, he spotted a girl get bumped into, knocking her to the ground. He walked over and knelt down.

"Need a hand?" he asked. He was a bit taken aback when the girl sat up. She was rather cute. She had red hair that was partially covered with a white woolen hat. He could see it was wavy by the curls that extended from the hat down near her chin. She wore a green sweater and blue jeans.

"Yeah. Thanks." she said. Steve gathered a few of her books and handed them back,to her, which she hurriedly stuffed into her satchel. She stood and slid it back over her shoulder and the strap ran diagonally across her chest.

"You're Natasha, right? Natasha Romanoff."

"Yes. And you're Steve Rogers. This school's top football player."

"You've been in my class since kindergarten. Surprised I've never talked to you before today."

"I've always been a bit antisocial. No fault on your part. "

"Well, it's nice to talk to you now."

She smiled a little as the bell rang.

"Got to go. See you around."

"Yeah. See you around." he replied as she hurried away to her class.

* * *

"What's on your mind, Steve-o?" Tony asked as he stole some of Bruce's fries.

"Nothing. Just trying to remember whether or not I did Miss Waters homework last night." he lied. A girl that he hadn't ever spoken to before today was now all he could think about.

"I think it's that Romanoff girl you ran into this morning." Clint said, sitting down.

"How did you- were you in the vents again?" Steve asked.

"Yup. And I think you have gained interest in that girl."

"Yeah. I mean, she's someone in my graduating class. I know everyone but her, you know?"

"Well, it just seemed like she never really wanted to get to know anyone else."

"I think that's one of my goals this year. Get to know her."

* * *

Steve saw her outside the main entrance at the end of the day. Wondering whether or not to strike up a conversation with her, his decision was excellerated when he saw her walking away.

"Hey!" he called, hurrying after her. She turned to look at him.

"Hey." she replied.

"I was thinking about our conversation earlier."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Despite what you said, I feel guilty about being in the same class as you for pretty much our whole school lives and never took time to say hi."

"Well, as I said, it's nothing you did. I've just always been more to myself, and in part got overlooked by everyone. All the girls, the "popular" ones, they like to tease me about it. As do some of the guys."

Steve frowned a little. "Well, if I ever made you feel out of place, I apologize."

She smiled at him. "Thanks."

"So tell me about yourself, Natasha Romanoff."

"Well, where do I begin?"

* * *

Jane Foster, Maria Hill and Darcy Lewis sat on the high school stairs, watching Steve and Natasha walk away together.

"So when did Steve the jock start hanging with Natasha the loner?" Jane asked.

"Dunno. To be honest, I thougt she moved years ago." Darcy replied.

"I think we can agree, this is something Peggy might not like." Maria added.

* * *

"No way, that was you?" Steve asked, as he and Natasha were laughing.

"Yeah. I fizzed it up accidentally when I dropped it down the stairs, so I set the bottle on Mr. Gilbert's desk, and picked up his bottle instead."

"I never seen him that angry before."

"Neither did I. I was so embarrassed, I never said anything. I heard he's still looking for the culprit."

"He is pretty vindictive."

They laughed for a moment longer until she stopped.

"Well, this is my house."

"Huh. This is on my path to school. Figured I would've ran into on the way."

"Depends on when you leave. I'm always at school by 7:30."

"Yeah, I don't even wake up until 8."

She laughed. "That's why, then."

They stood silent for a minute.

"Anyway, I'll probably see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you."

She began walking up to her door when Steve called to her again.

"Hey."

She turned.

"Could I- could I get your number?"

She queried an eyebrow.

"Just in case you might know something about Mrs. Stanford's math assignment that i don't."

"And here's me thinking you were one of the smartest kids in the class."

Steve looked surprised. "I thought no one- how do you know about my-"

"Your smarts? Our teachers have me help with the work time to time. I'm fairly smart myself. You might like to bury it, but you're very gifted."

Steve blushed a little.

"So what's your real reason you want my number?"

"I'd like to be able to text you now and then."

"Well, I don't give my number out to many people, but I think I can trust you with it."

She gestured for his phone and he handed it to her. She punched in her info, snapped a quick contact picture, and handed it back to him.

"There."

"Thanks."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you, Natasha."

He watched as she disappeared into her house. He smiled to himself and walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

it was 7 in the morning when Steve received a text message. Groggily, he fumbled around for it and pressed the on button

**From Natasha:**

_Early bird catches the worm ;) _

He smiled. A second later, another message was received.

**From Natasha:**

_Want to walk with me? I leave at 7:30_

**To Natasha:**

_Be there as soon as I'm ready._

He got up and went right for the shower. He powered through that, got dressed, slid on his football jacket, ate a quick bowl of cereal and was out the door by 7:15.

He saw Natasha standing outside her house. She had on a blue sweater today, and was still wearing her white hat.

"7:30 on the dot. I'm impressed."

"This is the earliest I've been awake since I was 10."

"Being awake early is a good habit to get into. I assume since you wake up at 8, you're always barely making it to school on time?"

"You assume correctly."

"Thats going to annoy teachers after awhile. It could even affect your football."

"Well then, I'll start setting an alarm for 7. Shall we go?"

"Yup. Oh wait, forgot my bag inside." she said, hurrying back inside to retrieve her satchel. Draping it over her shoulder, she rejoined Steve on the sidewalk.

"So you didn't tell me anything about you yesterday." she said as they began walking.

"Did I? Thought I did." he said, jokingly.

"No, so I think it's only fair you share a bit about yourself."

He conceded to this point. "Well, I was born here as well, raised in the same house all my life. Parents both passed away when I was 12."

She looked at him, her eyes swimming with compassion.

"I'm- I'm sorry to hear that."

"I live with my older brother James. I call him Bucky. He's technically living in Chicago, but he has a good paying job and sends me some money to live off every two weeks."

"That must be hard for you."

"It kinda sucks being on my own, but I have aunts and uncles in the city that visit often, so it's not so bad."

"You seem to be turning out just fine. Model student. Star athlete. Your parents would be proud."

He smiled at her. "Thank you."

"So, it's senior year, what does Steve Rogers have planned post-high school?"

"I've been getting a lot of scholarship opportunities from a lot of colleges, but it's not really for academics, there more football oriented. I really want to take an art class or something. Get a good education."

"Art school? Do you paint?"

"I draw." he stopped to open his backpack. He pulled out a pad and handed it to her. She flipped through the pages and was clearly impressed.

"This is amazing work, Steve. Have you showed any to Mrs. Wade?"

"No. I'm not in the class."

"That's insane, you're incredibly talented."

"I know, but...I'm sort of hesitant to let that part of me get discovered."

"I'm sure when you do let that part out, people will love it."

He smiled to himself the rest of the way to school. Natasha Romanoff, who yesterday was a complete stranger, was now becoming a good friend.

* * *

"Who is Natasha Romanoff?" Peggy Carter asked as she and Maria Hill stepped off the bus.

"She's in our graduating class."

"And you're saying Steve has grown..."close" to her?"

"They never talked to each other before yesterday."

"So they aren't dating then?"

"Unless they fell for each other within a span of 24 hours." Maria replied. They looked up the street and spotted Steve and Natasha walking, deep in conversation.

"What interest does he have in her? If I don't even know who she is, how interesting could she be?" Peggy pondered.

* * *

"You play piano? That's pretty cool." Steve remarked as they approached the school.

"My dad taught me at a young age. Wanted me to play some sort of instrument. What about you? Are you musical?"

"Guitar and saxophone."

"Saxophone? That's surprising."

"Just don't tell anyone. I love playing the sax solo from Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street"."

"Maybe we'll play together sometime."

The bell rang.

"I have to get to History. See you later." she said. She disappeared into the school as Sam and Tony drove up next to Steve.

"Hey Steve! Coach wants us on the field."

Steve nodded and hopped into the car.

* * *

He didn't see Natasha again until he was in the library, looking for a book on biological pedigrees. She was sitting at the librarian's desk with the librarian Mr. Pertwee. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Hello." she greeted as she approached him.

"Hey. Mr. Pertwee helping you with something?"

"No, I'm helping him. I'm a library assistant on my off classes."

"You must be the apple of every teacher's eye, huh?"

"It's better to be in their good books than their bad."

"Amen. Actually, I was wondering if you could help me. I need to find a book about pedigrees. The scientific kind."

"That would be in the science section. Let's take a look." she said, guiding him over to the appropriate section. When they were out of view, Darcy tactfully texted Peggy.

**To Peggy:**

_They're in the library together. They seem very cozy._

* * *

Peggy, who was in class, looked at the text wth a grimace.

"Miss Carter, phone away please." Miss Waters instructed.

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Steve went into the bathroom to relieve himself. Standing at the urinal, he heard the sound of a grate opening, and soon Clint Barton was behind him.

"You know Principal Fury is going to catch you one day, right?"

"Probably. But it won't stop me."

Steve rolled his eyes and finished.

"You know, this Natasha gal you're hanging with is getting quite some buzz within the mean girl groups."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Heard Peggy has her friends "observe" her, see why you talk to her."

"She's a nice girl. I hope Peggy isn't planning on embarrassing her or anything."

"I don't think she is. Not right now, she's only...curious about Romanoff."

Steve sighed. "Peggy probably thinks we're dating."

"Yeah. She's always been jealous of other girls. Even when you two aren't dating."

"Well, I just hope for Natasha's sake that she doesn't try anything."

The bell rang and the two headed out.

* * *

When school let out for the day, Steve sought Natasha out again, and the two walked together.

"So what are your post secondary plans?"

"I'm getting a lot of calls from the big leagues. Yale, Harvard. Just going to view my options, and hopefully have a decision come graduation."

"Wow. I didn't know anyone from this school was that smart. Your parents must be proud."

"They are. It help more of an obligation to excel because they went to those type of schools too."

"What school do you find fits your needs?"

"Not sure yet. They all offer great courses."

"I'm sure you'd do good in any of them."

"Thank you." she said. She stopped in front of her house.

"And here is where we go our separate ways for another day." he said.

"It is. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Before you go, I wanted to ask you something."

She stood in front of him, attention on him.

"You probably know tomorrow is our home opener. If football is your thing, then perhaps you might stop by and check it out."

She shrugged. "I only ever went to one football game, like seven years ago. But if you want me to go, I'll be there."

He smiled. "Cool."

"Ah, but in return, you have to do something for me."

"Fair's fair. Name it."

"There's a presentation for the little kids at the planetarium on Saturday that I'm helping out with. I could use an extra hand."

"Sounds fun. I'll be there."

"Really? No "oh gee, I got a thing that day"?

"No. I'd be happy to help out."

"Alright then. It's at 3:00 Saturday."

"3:00 Saturday. Got it."

"Ok. Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." she said, and went to her house. Steve walked away as she shut the door.


	3. Author's Note

**Hey, a quick update and overview of my objective with this story.**

**The other Avengers are in this story, and will be introduced soon. Thor is in this, but I don't know how to introduce him yet.**

**And for the character of Peggy, this isn't to try and tarnish her actual character. This is an AU story after all. Since this is a Romanogers story, I want the readers to be on their side more.**

**And for the readers of my other stories, I will have updates to Yale and One-Shots, once I can formulate some ideas. Plus, I want to give this story some focus. So for the time being they are on hiatus.**

**Thanks for reading and I'll update soon!**


	4. Chapter 3

**One more note, the city I chose to have this in is Seattle. No real reason, just wanted to break up the New York/Washington recurrence. And just so there's no confusion, the football field is several blocks away from the school.**

The Jefferson High Avengers were to play the Yakima Bulldogs. Steve sat in front of his locker, decked out in his football uniform, quietly, mentally preparing for the game.

"Alright, listen up." Coach Abrahams called to get everyone's attention.

"First off, I'd like for everyone to welcome our newest player. Short notice, yeah, but he's good. This is Thor Odinson from Australia."

A guy in the no. 37 jersey waved. Steve nodded to him.

"Since he's still new, he'll be riding the bench for this one, only to serve as a relief. Now then, our starting line is the usual suspects. Since we're on offense, Rogers on QB, Stark FB, Wilson HB. Barton, you're going wide this time, as well as Banner. Zeddy, Tackle. Smith, Guard. Lang, Center. Bolton, Guard. Ryback, Tackle, and Johnson, Tight End. These Bulldogs are uncoordinated when they're defending,,so there's no reason why we can't get some touchdowns. Now then, let's get out there!"

The room exploded with cheers and the team hustled out, busting through the banner as per tradition while the announcer broadcasted. Steve looked around at the cheering crowds. A relieved smile spawned when he spotted a familiar white hat in the crowd. Natasha waved at him. He waved back.

"Rogers! Now's no time to flirt!" Coach Abrahams bellowed. Steve sprinted over to his position.

* * *

Natasha sat with her hands lightly rubbing up and down her arms. Despite it being September, it was still a tad chilly at the moment. At least I'm wearing a sweater, she thought to herself.

She looked at the immense crowd of fellow students, parents, and general team boosters cheering for the Avengers. It was unfamiliar territory for her. She wasn't particularly fond of football, but Steve had asked her to be there, and she wanted to show her support.

Steve called out strategies as he yelled hike and Lang underhand threw him the ball. Steve did a quick pass to Tony, who tossed it to Bruce. Bruce ran down the field and tossed it over to Steve, who scored a touchdown. Avengers 6. Bulldogs 0.

Natasha clapped as Steve ran off field for the line change.

"Why, is that Natasha Romanoff I see?" a voice from behind her said.

Natasha turned to see Peggy sitting with Maria and Darcy.

"Oh. Hi, Peggy, didn't see you there."

"I didn't take you as a football fan, Natasha. Never seen you at a game."

"I'm just here to support a friend." she said.

"Would that friend be Steve Rogers?"

"Yes actually. He asked me to come."

"I didn't even know you two were friends."

"Well, we actually first talked to one another two days ago. But he's really nice."

"I just hope you don't get any wrong impressions."

"What?" Natasha asked confused.

"Just because me and Steven are broken up, it doesn't mean we're not still an item."

"Oooook. I wasn't even-"

"It's ok. Just know that for next time." and with that she, Darcy and Maria left, leaving Natasha baffled.

* * *

The Avengers won 66-24 that night. Steve, after showering off the sweat that he produced, got dressed and went to his car. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he saw Natasha walking.

"Hey there. Need a ride?" he asked. She stopped and turned to look at him.

"Nah, I can walk."

"You sure? You still have ten blocks to go, and you look like you're shivering."

She looked down at herself and eventually decided to get in.

"You were great tonight." she complimented as she buckled up and Steve pulled away from the sidewalk.

"Thanks. Team effort always works better than a bunch of individuals running around. You liked the game, then?"

"Yeah. Though, I think I was threatened by your ex."

"Threatened?"

"Yeah. Asked me when I started talking to you and stuff, and then said something about "though we're broken up, we're not broken up" sort of?"

Steve lightly chuckled. "That's Peggy for you. Though I think if two people break up, then that means they aren't still dating. I'll talk to her, don't worry about it."

They were still a few blocks away.

"So are you heading right home, or do you want dropping off somewhere?"

"Home is fine."

"Coach is celebrating tonight's win at Donnie's Pizza. If you wanted to come along, it's fine. Pretty much our whole class will be there."

"I'm not sure. Going to the football game was stretching a bit out of my comfort zone."

"I understand."

As they were finishing off the drive to her house, she was mulling over his invitation. Her whole high school life was under the radar and never attempting to socialize.

"Actually, I think I will come."

Steve nodded. "Alrighty then. To Donnie's."

* * *

The restaraunt was stuffed with high school seniors. Steve and Natasha could barely navigate through the crowd.

"Here, take my hand." he said. She complied and he guided her through the maze and to the center of attention, where his teammates and coach were in the middle.

"Rogers! There you are!" The Coach acknowledged as Steve and Natasha came into sight. "Since when did you start dating Romanoff?"

"Oh, we aren't dating." he clarified. Natasha nodded in agreement.

"Well, it's about darn time you started coming to these things, Romanoff." Coach teased lightly. She smiled as Steve surprisingly found an empty booth. They slid in it and got some drinks. After indulging in some pizza in relative silence, Steve began to talk.

"This the first time you've been to one of these?"

"Yeah."

"You don't really miss much. Eventually a majority of these guys will head off to someone's house and start drinking."

"And the cops will probably break it up."

"That's almost a guarantee these days."

"You do much drinking?"

"Nah. Not my thing. I drink occasionally, but only if it's a special event."

As they talked, Clint, Tony and Sam slid into the booth. Natasha immediately fell quiet.

"Stevey boy, you led us to victory once again." Tony said, shaking Steve by the shoulder.

"What would this team be without you?" Sam remarked.

"Still the same. As I said, I'm only one piece of the puzzle. Without my team, then we're nothing."

Tony looked at Natasha. "Tony Stark, nice to meet you."

"Hi." she said quietly, fiddling around with her sweater sleeves.

"You're Natasha, right? Steve talks about you."

"Yeah, I'm Natasha." she said quickly. Steve saw she was uncomfortable.

"You know, to be honest I always thought you were a mute cause you never talk." Clint remarked.

"Yeah, I thought you moved after Kelly Mullins used to bully you in 6th grade." Sam added, with Tony and Clint laughing.

Natasha looked down, her face red with embarrassment. Steve was getting mad at his friends for doing that to her.

"Listen, this party isn't much. I'm heading out shortly, if you want to meet me out in the car, I'll be out in a second to drive you home." he said to her.

She nodded and Steve gave her his car keys. After Clint stood up to let her out she disappeared into the crowd. After she left, Steve slapped Sam over the head.

"Ow!"

"That's for embarrassing Natasha. You could see how uncomfortable she was."

"So now we've met the reclusive Natasha Romanoff." Clint said.

"Gotta say Steve, she's pretty hot." Tony remarked. Steve whapped him over the head as well.

"Guys, you know that she's still a bit antisocial. You guys cramming into the booth and spooking her like that isn't going to benefit her."

"Steve, you talk as if you've known her your whole life. In the two days you've talked to her, what have you learned?"

"A lot actually. She's four days younger than me, smartest in our class, likes to read, is being courted by some of the top colleges in the country, has a cat named Percy, can't swim, can play piano and she's _shy_." he said, making the last point stand out.

"Hot and shy? Never thought I'd see those two mix." Tony said.

"You learned all that in two days?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. We get along pretty well. Which is why I hate that I haven't talked to her until now. Speaking of which, I need to drive her home." and with that, Steve left. He found Natasha sitting in the passenger's seat, all buckled up.

"Sorry about those guys. They're good guys when you get to know them."

"I know. But your friend Clint kind of reminded me of a bad time in my life."

"I'm sorry he did that. Now let's get you home.

He turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

As they drove, Natasha spoke up.

"Can I ask you something? Why do you want to hang out with me?"

He glanced quickly over at her. "Well, in technical terms, we've known each other for over ten years. And in those ten years I never took time to get to know you. And it's something that I felt bad about, especially when I helped you when you got knocked over. And it's even worse to know that...you're a pretty cool person."

She smiled. "Did the most popular guy in school call me cool?"

He chuckled. "You are. A lot of the girls I know can't do half of what you can."

"It's a shame really. They all resign themselves to the social norm. There's only a few girls who truly are themselves at school, and don't hide it."

"Wish it was easy for me to do so."

Natasha looked at him. "It's easy, really. Just be yourself."

Steve smiled as he pulled into Natasha's driveway.

"There you go." he said. She unbuckled and got out of the car.

"Thanks for the drive home. And for tonight."

"You're welcome. See you at school."

She stood back and allowed him to reverse out of the driveway. She saw him off before she went inside.

"Natasha? Is that you?" a voice asked as she shut the door.

"Yeah mom, it's me." she replied.

"This is pretty late for you."

"Decided to check out the football game."

"Really? How did it go?"

"Our team won."

"Debra? Who's car was that in the driveway?" Natasha's father called from upstairs.

"It's just Natasha coming home, Vic."

"I know, but she didn't take her car."

"Oh, that was just a friend from school."

"Oh, Betty was by? She normally pops in."

"No, it wasn't Betty. Its was a guy from school."

Her mother's eyes glinted with curiosity. "Ooh, a boy dropped you off?"

Natasha stuck her hands in her back pockets and looked down, slightly blushing. "Yeah."

"What's his name?"

"Steve."

"Steve? As in Steve Rogers, the football player?" her dad asked.

"Is this Steve boy your boyfriend?" her mom asked.

"Mom, Dad, stop! Seriously. He's just a friend." and with that she hurried upstairs.

Vic looked at his wife. "When did our daughter start dating football players?"

"Dad!"


	5. Chapter 4

"Steve, where were you this weekend? You missed Maria's party on Saturday." Tony said to Steve as they walked through the halls.

"Sorry, I was busy. I helped Natasha at the planetarium that day, and by the time I got home, I was tired."

"This Natasha girl has you all out of place. I'm beginning to think she's a devil with green eyes used to tempt you."

"Knock it off, Tony." Steve said as they walked pass Natasha at her locker. She turned to see them and she smiled at Steve. Tony had a point though, her eyes were pretty enchanting. For a moment he couldn't remove his gaze from her piercing green orbs. He couldn't help but notice that her otherwise wavy hair was straight this time under her white hat.

"Does she ever wear anything other than a sweater, jeans and that hat?" Tony asked as she walked away. "Yellow sweater today. Tomorrow it'll be purple, so on and so on. If someone could get her into a nice tight blouse, then she'll-"

"Hey!" Steve scolded, punching him on the arm. "That's enough of that."

"Alright, jeez!" Tony replied, rubbing his arm. Steve then walked away. Clint walked over to Tony.

"Yikes, you ticked him off."

"Yeah, we were talking about that wallflower Natasha."

"She's really gotten to him, huh?

"If by gotten, you mean infatuated. Steve hasn't shut up about her."

* * *

Steve walked in a different direction as he had his first English class that day. The teacher, Mr. Coulson, was out on vacation still. Steve entered the classroom and took a seat in the last available desk. Mr. Coulson entered a few minutes later and sat down. He took a quick and mental attendance check before starting the class.

"You already know my name, I already know yours. This years first unit is on poetry. Can someone give me the definition of poetry?"

A few hands raised.

"How about you, Miss Romanoff."

Steve turned around surprised and delighted to find Natasha in his class.

"Poetry is a form of literature that can be interpreted to have deeper meaning."

"Correct. A poem is a tool that many can use to express what they are feeling. There are happy ones, angry ones, downright depressing ones, but poems, aside from stories, rank high in the most celebrated of literature. So, for your first assignment, you'll break off into groups of two, select a poet to do a presentation on. You can't do the same poet as someone else, so once you found your partner, discuss which one you'll write about and tell me, so I can put it up on the board for people to see. This assignment will take approximately one day to complete. You'll use this class to research, and you'll write the paper for homework. If you do not have your paper on my desk by 2:30 tomorrow, automatic 0. Get picking."

The students arose and Steve went to seek out Natasha.

"You want to work on this together?" he asked.

"Sure. Which poet did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was think Poe, but I'm not sure if he's more of a poet, or more a short story writer."

"His short stories are more known. What about Emily Dickinson?"

"Sounds like a plan. I'll tell Mr. Coulson, how about you get us a computer."

Natasha nodded and went off to grab a computer.

"Sir, me and Natasha are going to write about Emily Dickinson."

"Rogers and Romanoff - Emily Dickinson." Mr. Coulson wrote. An audible groan was heard as Steve walked over to Natasha. Another group was hoping for Dickinson.

"One more thing: no Wikipedia." Mr. Could on announced, much to the chagrin of his students.

"That's no problem." Natasha said. "There's a lot of info on Emily outside of Wikipedia."

They spent the class searching the internet for interesting information on Emily Dickinson. When the bell rang, they packed up their things.

"So where do you want to work on the paper?" Natasha asked.

"We can work on it at my place if you want. That's if-"

"No, that's fine. My parents would probably try and write it for us anyway, so some peace and quiet would be good."

"Alright. I'll meet you after school."

They went their separate ways and Steve headed to the gym.

* * *

Steve was eating lunch in the cafeteria by himself until someone sat in front of him. He looked up from his tray to see the new guy, Thor, sitting across from him.

"Hey." Steve greeted.

"You're the team captain, right?"

"That I am."

"Coach sent me to talk to you. About the team and what I should bring to it."

Steve nodded. "Well, this team runs 100% as that. A team. There's no individual star. There's no room for anyone to go off and do their own thing."

"Of course."

"You seem well built, you play football in Australia?"

"Mostly rugby, but then again, they're pretty similar."

"Yeah, but here you get to wear protective gear."

Thor laughed. As he looked toward the other tables, he spotted Jane Foster talking with her friends. Steve saw Thor looking at them and smirked.

"Got a thing for her?"

Thor snapped his focus back. "She's a very pretty girl."

Steve nodded. "She is."

He looked over a little more and saw Natasha in line. "There's a lot of them here."

* * *

"So you saw them at Donnie's...together?" Peggy questioned. Darcy nodded.

"Yeah. They were at a booth together for awhile, and at one point even holding hands."

Peggy scowled. "That bitch! I told her to back off."

Maria spoke up. "Well, to be fair, they only held hands so she wouldn't get lost in the crowd. This doesn't mean they're dating."

"Ok, so is the extent of all this?"

"They added each other on Facebook." Darcy said.

"Again, it doesn't man anything, Peggy. They aren't making out, or going to second base at parties. Right now, they're just talking."

"More like getting to know each other. And in the sense of romantic interest."

"You're just being a gossip monger."

"You know that's what I am."

Peggy rolled her eyes. "All I know is, they're getting too friendly for my tastes. Eventually I'm going to have to do something about it. Quiet, Steve's coming over."

Steve approached them. "Darcy. Maria. Could you give me a minute with Peggy?"

The girls nodded and excused themselves. Steve sat down.

"How've you been?"

Peggy shrugged. "Fine. Yourself?"

"I'm fine as well."

"I see you met a new friend."

"That I did. Which is why I want to talk to you. Natasha told me you spoke to her."

"I saw her at the game. So?"

"Well, you told her something about her getting "wrong impressions"?"

Peggy sighed. "Look, all I was saying was that she shouldn't think you're trying to date her. I mean, we did just break up last week."

"Exactly. And you're talking to people as if we are. Natasha is a nice girl, but we aren't dating. We're friends. Can you please leave her be?"

Peggy didn't reply.

"Peggy, I need to know that we can be amicable. Can I trust you aren't going to do anything mean to Natasha?"

She nodded. "Alright, Steve."

Steve smiled. "Good. I'll see you around." and with that he stood up and left. Darcy and Maria left.

"Well then, I least you know nothing is going on."

"Yeah, I know now. I still don't want them being friends."

* * *

Steve met Natasha outside just as she wrapped a scarf around her neck for warmth. Another cool September day.

"Unbelievable how cold it's getting, huh?" Steve asked as she slid on a denim jacket.

"Yeah. I mean, it was only summer a week ago. Now it's feeling like autumn. Several weeks advanced."

Steve nodded. "I took out a book on Dickinson from the library. Might have some additional material."

"Good thinking."

They talked about that days schooling as they made the journey to Steve's house. He was only two blocks away from her own, so it wasn't a long walk.

"I know this house. Your parents used to hand out peanut butter cups on Halloween."

"They did. I always got to eat the ones that were left."

"Lucky. My parents handed out licorice. The black kind."

Steve's face scrunched up. "What cruel and unusual punishment."

Natasha laughed. Steve unlocked the front door and entered.

"Make yourself at home."

Natasha slipped her shoes off and followed Steve into the living room. He sat down and cleared the coffee table off, making room for their work.

"Alright. We have a lot of info on Emily, but do we really need to use all of it?"

"Let's find that out." Natasha said, pulling out the folder containing all their notes and shifting through. It took them three hours to finish the paper.

"Tre fini." Natasha remarked as she wrote her name on the top. Steve did the same.

"I think Mr. Coulson will find this acceptable." Steve said as he stood, stretching. He looked at the clock.

"Jesus, it's six o'clock?"

Natasha looked at her phone. "Yeah. That took longer than I thought."

Steve's stomach growled. "The ol tank needs filling. You hungry? I've been told I can make a mean oven baked sub."

"I dunno. I think I prefer my subs a bit nicer."

Steve chuckled. "Is that a no?"

"I could eat."

Steve led the way to the kitchen, where he opened the fridge and began pulling out sandwich ingredients.

"You vegetarian? Vegan, pescatarian, anything like that?" he asked.

"No, I eat just about anything. Except paprika and peanuts. I'm allergic."

"No paprika or peanuts. Gee, without those, im not sure I can make this sandwich to its proper glory." he teased.

He opened some ham and began laying it on the bread, along with some cheese. He placed the subs onto a tray and stuck them into the oven. He opened up the fridge and took out some soda cans, giving one to Natasha.

"I talked to Peggy today." he said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. She explained things to me, and resolved it. So I don't think she'll be putting out a hit on you now."

She smiled. "If it's not too nosy, can I ask why you two split up?"

Steve shrugged and leaned on the counter. "Honestly, I don't know. Things were fine during the summer. Then, suddenly she felt it was "time for a change" and ended things."

"That's a shame."

"Eh, what can you do? People could stew over it, get depressed. Others could get psycho and start stalking their ex. I'm just choosing to accept it and move on."

The oven beeped and Steve removed the subs.

"Any veggies you want on it?"

"Some lettuce and tomatoes, please."

Steve obliged and put the requested vegetables onto her sub, as well as his. He folded the subs in half and put one on a plate and handed it to Natasha.

"This is really good." she remarked.

"Thanks. Had to learn how to cook considering I'm by myself. Just don't ask me to bake a soufflé."

They polished off their subs and Steve began washing up. Natasha sat on the counter and helped by drying.

"So you do you see your brother often? Surely at the holidays."

"Oh yeah. Buck flies out every Christmas. Other than that, we skype."

"That's good. My older siblings are hard to keep track of."

"Where are they at?"

"I have an older brother and sister. Harry is deployed with the army, and hardly gets leave. And my sister Lisa lives in Florida. She and dad aren't really speaking right now. Haven't seen her in a year now."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Family, huh?"

Steve nodded. It had gone 7, and Natasha began packing up her things.

"Alright then. I'll bring the paper home with me, give it a cover letter, and we can hand it in tomorrow." Natasha said, zipping up her satchel and draping it over her shoulder.

"It would probably be better off with you. I tend to forget things. Namely homework."

She smiled. "Thanks again for the sub. Not sure Subway could match that."

"I wouldn't say that. But thanks for the compliment."

She headed to the door. "Goodnight, Steve."

"Night, Natasha."

She stopped and turned back to him.

"You can call me Nat if you want. Or Tasha. It's what my friends and family call me."

"Ok then. Natty."

Natasha smiled and turned back to hide the blossoming blush on her face. She opened the door and exited.


	6. Chapter 5

They grew closer over the course of a month, much to the chagrin of Peggy. They worked on projects together and accompanied one another on the walk to and from school.

The October air was cool and crisp, a climate that was welcomed by the students. Natasha was staying behind late to help organize the Halloween dance, so Steve waited for her outside. They had planned on taking a tour of a local college later that night. An hour went by when she finally came out.

"Oh, Steve, you didn't have to wait for me." she said.

"I wanted to." he replied, offering his arm. She looped hers with his and they walked.

"There's a stalemate on what the theme should be. Vampires, or Creepy circus."

"Vampires are too played out. Creepy circus, however."

"They're going to put it to a vote and let the students decide. Either way, we only have three weeks to get it set up."

"Imagine if that vote ended in a stalemate too."

"Oh god. Please don't make me think about that. We'd probably just cancel the dance."

"And get utterly destroyed by the backlash? Don't think I could let you do that."

"Luckily I have faith the student body has different opinions. So I think I'm safe."

As they walked, Peggy watched from the driver's seat of her car. She turned it on and drove up to them.

"Steve! Steve, could you come with me? I'm picking up some packages for my dad. And they're quite heavy, so I need a big strong man for the job."

Steve looked at her, taken aback, then turned to Natasha. "Well, Peggy, I-"

"Hey, it's fine. We can go on that tour another time." Natasha said, unhooking her arm from Steve's. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Steve watched as she walked away.

"Steve? You getting in?"

Steve sighed and got into the passenger seat. He buckled up just as Peggy pulled back onto the road. He looked to the right and watched Natasha walk into her house.

"So what do you need help with?"

"I just said that as a cover. We need to talk."

"About what?"

"You and me. I thought about it, and is kind of want to get back together."

"What, really?"

"Yes, really. I made a mistake in letting you go."

"Peg, I don't think I want us to get back together." he said, noticing her pull onto the highway.

"What?"

"You did kind of up and leave me. And that hurt."

"And I'm sorry."

"I know. But even still, it's only been a month. I've got a lot on my plate, and frankly I'm not sure maintaining a relationship can be balanced along with school, applying for college, football, etc."

Peggy remained silent as they drove into the city. She pulled over on one of the main streets.

"So you don't value me the same as those other three." she said.

"I didn't-"

"I need to be alone. Could you please step out?"

"Peggy, you aren't stranding me here, are you?" he said. She didn't say anything. Steve sighed and got out.

"Peg, it's a two hour walk back home." he added. Peggy merely pulled back out onto the road and drove away.

Steve watched as she drove away. Shaking his head, he looked at his watch. It was 3:45. Pulling out his phone, he called Natasha.

"Hey Nat, it's me. Listen, Peggy didn't need my help after all, so we can still go to the SPU tour if you want."

"Sure. When do you want to leave?"

"Well, Peggy sort of stranded me downtown, so would you be able to come pick me up?"

* * *

Steve saw her red Volkswagen Beatle pull over. He opened the door to the passenger side.

"Hey. Why did Peggy ditch you?"

"Said she had to be somewhere."

"Huh. Wouldn't have thought she'd leave you downtown. Anyhoo, we'd better get going."

* * *

"So they still went to the university tour." Darcy said. Peggy looked up from her lunch.

"What?"

Darcy handed Peggy her phone. She scrolled through, seeing Steve had posted pictures he took at the university.

"I left him downtown. They cancelled their plans. This Natasha girl is starting to piss me off."

Peggy looked over and saw Steve and Natasha eating lunch a few tables away. She noticed Natasha was wearing a white sweater.

"Darcy, get that Tracey girl over here."

Darcy gestured to a girl in line. The girl came over.

"Tracey, if I let you eat with us, would you go pretend to trip and spill this fruit punch on Natasha over there?"

"Why?"

"Why do you care? Haven't you always wanted to sit here with us? Now prove it to us."

Tracey nodded and took the juice. She walked over and pretended to slip, sending the juice all over Natasha.

"I'm so sorry!" Tracey said, as Natasha stood up.

"It's fine. It's fine." Natasha said. Steve hastily gathered some napkins.

"How much spilled on you?"

"Not much, but enough to stain my white sweater. Gotta run home and change." Natasha replied, hurrying out of the cafeteria. Steve noticed Peggy chuckling. He frowned.

"What was the punch line?" he asked.

"What?" Peggy asked.

"You girls are laughing, so I can only assume a joke was told. Care to share? Or were you laughing at Natasha?"

They didn't reply.

He shook his head. "I thought better of you, Peg." and left. Tracey then sat down.

"So I did it."

Peggy and Darcy looked at her. Sighing, Tracey got up and left.

* * *

Steve waited for Natasha to finish another after school meeting. It still baffled his friends that he and Natasha grew that close in very little time.

She came out, now in a grey sweater due to the juice incident, and met him.

"You honestly like waiting an hour for me to finish?" she asked him. He offered out his arm and she took it.

"Well, I got used to our conversations as we made our way out of school."

"Unfortunately there's not too much to discuss today. Got juice spilled on me, got an A on my calculus quiz and we finally settled on creepy circus for the dance."

"That's good. At least we know the school had it's fill of vampires as well."

They kept the conversation going until they reached Natasha's house. Her parents were outside, tending to the lawn. Her dad looked up.

"Hey, sweetheart!" he called.

"That your dad?" Steve asked.

"Yeah. And thats my mom."

Steve watched as her mom looked over as well. Both of them walked over.

"You must be Steven. Natasha's told us a lot about you."

"Hopefully all good."

"Of course, of course. I'm Debra. This is my husband Vic."

Natasha's dad extended his hand. "Pleasure to meet Jefferson High's star player."

Steve took it. "Thank you, sir."

"I played football back in the day with your father. He had a strong throwing arm himself."

"Indeed he did. Taught me to play."

"Its good to see you inherited his skill."

"Thank you sir." he said. "I should get going. I'll see you tomorrow, Nat." he said, unhooking his arm from hers.

"Well hang on. We were just about to prepare dinner. Would you like to join us?"

"I appreciate the offer, but it wouldn't want to impose."

"Come on, id like to get to know the boy my daughter has been associating herself with these days." her father insisted. Steve looked at Natasha. She shrugged.

"I do still owe you for the sub."

Steve nodded. "Ok then. Why not?"

* * *

Natasha helped her mother set the table while Steve gave her dad help in the kitchen.

"Steve sure is a talented cook."

"He is. Considering his circumstances, he really didn't have a choice."

"Well, it's nice to know someone who possesses that quality. Your father was lousy at it when I first met him. The poor man couldn't boil an egg to save his life."

Natasha chuckled as Steve and Vic entered, presenting a dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Steve took the time to pull out Debra's chair.

"What a gentleman." she complimented. Steve went over and did the same for Natasha, who smiled at him as she sat. Steve took the seat directly next to her.

"So, Steve, what are your post high school aspirations?"

"Well, I want to go take art, but recently journalism kind of caught my eye."

"Really? Natasha there is a little journalist herself. She's been writing up a storm since at least when she was seven."

"Dad." she said, slightly embarrassed.

"Does that mean you two are both looking at journalism courses?"

"I suppose."

"That's nice."

They ate a little in silence.

"So Steve, this May or may not be a touchy topic, but do you have anyone looking out for you?"

"I have my brother. He lives in Chicago, but he checks up on me all the time. Sends me money to survive with."

"What do you do about bills?"

"The house was paid for before they passed. Bucky makes a lot as a lawyer, so he has all the bills sent to him in Chicago."

"Your brother is very smart when it comes to that sort of stuff."

They kept the conversation going until they were all finished.

"I best get started on dishes." Debra said. Steve stood up.

"Let me help you with those."

"Steven, please, you're our guest."

"It's fine." Steve went into the kitchen with Debra, leaving Natasha alone with her father.

"I approve."

She looked at him. "What?"

"If sometime in the future you ask me if you can marry that boy, I approve."

"Dad!" she said, restraining the urge to fully shout the word. "We aren't even dating." she said as her mother came out to gather up the remaining cutlery.

"Yet. You two have great chemistry."

Natasha pulled her hat over her face in embarrassment.

* * *

She walked with him to the door.

"I had a good time tonight. Your parents are great."

"You say that now. You don't live with them."

"Regardless, they're good people."

They felt a lul occur in their talk.

"Anyway, I don't have to meet with the dance committee tomorrow, so you don't have to wait long."

"Ok. Speaking of the dance, there was something I was meaning to ask you."

"What's that?"

"Well, I was wondering if maybe you'd...I don't know...maybe you'd like to go with me?"

Natasha was surprised. This was the first time a boy asked her this.

"If its not your thing, I understand-"

"No, no. It's fine. And I would love to."

"You do?"

"Yeah. About time I attended the dances I help put together."

"Alright then. It's a d-" he stopped himself. She smiled.

"It's a date." she said.

"It's a date." Steve repeated. "See you tomorrow."

Natasha nodded as Steve left. As she shut the door, her smile blossomed more.


End file.
